Shmutz

Shmutz by Felicia Berliner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hasidic family in New York - absolutely unknown territory for me.
Young girl addicted to pornography - even more alien environment.
Still I read the book with interest mainly because I really liked the main character - Raizl.
Hard working girl preparing for a prearranged marriage.
Why she accepts so easily this very strict traditions?
My answer is - she feels love in her family, at least in its female part and she does not want to break this thread.

Why she accepts so easily a very strict traditions?

No answer.

What is the role of addiction to pornography in her life, in the story?

No answer.

My general understanding is - she feels love in her family, at least in its female part and she does not want to break this thread.

Other side of the story - men.

There are very few in this book and they are from different world.

Tati - the father - definitely a nasty character.

Younger brother - quite nice, older brother - almost like Tati. 

What is her vision/hope for her marriage?

The chosen one - at least he clearly states - no computer in our home.

What struck me quite strongly was information that pious man starts the day with thanks to
the G-d: Blessed are you, Hashem (Lord, our God), ruler of the universe who has not created me a woman.
A woman starts a day with thanks to G-d, that he created her according to His will.
I would like to read a similar story written from a position a Hasidic man.

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Where the Birds Call Her Name

Where the Birds Call Her Name by Claire van Ryn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I liked some aspects of the book - layout, illustrations, visible effort of the author to deliver a comprehensive story. As a result I felt motivated to continue reading.
Visible effort - generally you recognise a master when she/he delivers a piece of art effortlessly, here I found an opposite - visible effort which somehow melted my heart,
Tangible result?
Not so good, I found the story artificially complicated, characters not real.
I welcomed the end with a relief.

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The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After reading few pages of this book I got lost.
Every few lines a new character introduced with not much connection to the main plot of the story.
Main plot? The story?
I could not find any of these.
Still I continued reading although without much heart. I read slowly, just few pages at a time and after some time I got into the climate of the book - I still could not figure out who cheated whom and why but I started enjoying the mess around me.
Another positive point was a check of authors biography - James McBride - his father was an Afro-American pastor, his mother - a Jewish immigrant from Poland. Her maiden name - Zylska - raises some sentiment - from my early years I remember a popular Polish singer - Natasha Zylska :)
Anyway - at around 2/3 of the book I started enjoying it, unfortunately last few chapters broke the spell.

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Portrait of Poland

Portrait of Poland by Bernard Newman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Few years ago I read Pedalling Poland by the same author, I was surprised to learn that he visited Poland after the war and tempted to read the book.
My feeling are mixed.
On one hand I appreciate an effort to present quite comprehensive history of Poland to English reader, on the other hand - there is practically NO STORY.
I can imagine that B. Newman expected that the book may interest British politicians and business people who were involved in contacts with Poland.
Maybe it did.
I do not think it may raise any interest in Polish readers.

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Black Dogs

Black Dogs by Ian McEwan
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I read this book long ago and was not impressed.
I gave the book another chance - no success.
Construction of the book is original - the narrator is a young person who is more interested with lives of other people than with his own.
His target is a married couple which for some time was united by their devotion to Communism. Then, as the glamour of communism evaporated, there came a deep divide between them.
The man stayed rational - he changed his political view but it did not affect his professional position.
The woman - became mystic... whatever it means.
There is no discussion of man's disenchantment with communism, in the case of the woman it is even simpler - she experienced a vision.
So where is the story?
Instead of the story there are reports of 2 facts:
- the fall of Berlin Wall
- visit to Majdanek - German concentration camp.
I got a nasty suspicion that the author wrote this book to publicise his experience from these 2 events.

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All that's left unsaid

All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Somehow I felt very strongly touched by this book.
Eavesdropping talks between Ky and Minnie raised in me mixed feelings - tenderness towards both girls and various levels of dislike for their parents, school friends/enemies and the whole Cabramatta environment.
Me and my family experienced migration from Poland to Australia with a 2 years pause in Middle East - reading this book I realised how many traps and troubles existed around us but somehow they did not touch us.
This brings questions about national and cultural background, questions I will NOT try to answer.
Summarising - the book raised strong emotions - full respect to the Author. On the other hand, the balance of these emotions is negative, I feel that the world around me is not so good as I would like to think.

P.S. After reading this book I looked back - what other books about Vietnam I had read?
Ahn Do - The happiest Refuge - so happy and positive story - masculine story?
Graham Greene - The quiet American - disgusting treatment of Vietnamese people, it convinced me that Communism was the way to bring dignity to those people.

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A History of the World in 101/2 Chapters

A History of the World in 10½ Chapters by Julian Barnes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I listened to the audiobook and it was a serious problem.
Initially I found looking at the biblical story from a position of a stowaway worm amusing a bit but it not lasted long.
Unfortunately the format of the audiobook did not give me a chance to jump between chapters, so I had either listen blindly to the stowaway worm or jump out - I chose the second option.
I gave an extra star as a sign of appreciation of author's sense of humour.

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